


Advice

by Kira_K



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Arkenstone - Freeform, Blind!Thranduil, Gen, Silmarils
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-09 14:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3253013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_K/pseuds/Kira_K
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill." ― Gildor</p><p>Elrond ponders about the Arkenstone then gives advice to Thranduil. </p><p> </p><p>(Some knowledge of The Silmarillion is needed, for further explanations see the end notes.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Advice

“The dwarves have found a Jewel. Deep from the mountain it came; its light is pure and bright. I saw it.”

Elrond, Lord of Imladris, put down the letter he had been pondering for the last few hours. King Thranduil’s words were always cryptic at best —a necessary precaution in case their mail was intercepted—but Elrond could understand all the nuances. 

While the king of Greenwood the Great never travelled beyond the Sea he was no fool. Nor did he really see after dragonfire took one of his eyes completely; thus the last sentence was the confirmation of the warning. 

A Jewel. After all this time; Elrond could not help but shudder at the implications. Noldor and Sindarin lives were lost more than once because they came to possess one of the great Jewels forged by Fëanor from the twin Trees of Light. The nature of the Silmaril was such that it casted a strong shadow; so both darkness and brightness of one’s soul became much sharper when in the possession of one of them.

Dwarves never before held them but the First Age and the Kinslayings were cautionary tales Elrond still remembered. (How could he not, when even his own parents were enchanted by the Silmaril they had?) What would become of a king who possessed the greatest jewel in the history of elves; one who was the direct descendant of Durin the Deathless? What would become of the elves who were his neighbours? Elrond shuddered once more as he thought about a battle between Thranduil’s and Thror’s warriors; once more thinking back to the battles his own ancestors had fought for the Silmarils. 

He could not go there and be sure that the Silmaril would not take hold of his senses. Of all the Elves he knew there was only the Lady Galadriel who had resisted; perhaps because she saw the Trees in their glory. (Or because she had remembered Fëanor and the madness in his eyes when he had forged them. Or, and these tales were told after a bottle of wine was gone, around a fire when he had been nothing more than a foundling, an adopted son for those who raided and razed his home, or the Lady Galadriel had no use for something that paled next to her own beauty according to their creator. Elrond rarely pondered the truth: Galadriel was his mother-in-law, after all.)

In the end he penned a short reply, and hoped for the best. 

“Stay away, for this sickness is contagious and dangerous to all. The Cure, if you must: Fire, Sea, Air, or the Valar. Please, do not go there again.”

When the dragon came and Ereborn burnt Elrond wept. He was not sure why; for lives lost; for the Jewel lost beneath Smaug; or for the advice he had given and which had been heeded by Thranduil. 

~end~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The referenced events from The Silmarillion are: 
> 
> Feanor wanted to craft the Silmarils with Galadriel's hair. Galadriel denied his request. After this Feanor made the Jewels to reflect the light from the Trees which preceded the Sun and Moon as the source of light. Then the big evil, Morgoth came back, stole them, killed Feanor's dad, and Feanor became slightly mad. He and his seven sons swore a damning oath to never find peace until they had the Silmarils back. 
> 
> Elrond's mother had inherited a Silmaril. When the remaining sons of Feanor came to take it from her she cast herself out of a tower. The Valar intervened and changed her into a seagull but the fact remains: she would rather die with the Silmaril than give it up and raise her children. 
> 
> After the War of Wrath (where the Valar defeated Morgoth) Maedhros and Maglor stole the remaining two Silmarils but they burned them. Maedhros cast his Silmaril and himself into a volcano; Maglor threw his into the sea (and still wanders on the shores.) The Arkenstone may or may not be the Silmaril that Maedhros cast into the volcano. 
> 
> Durin, the first (king) of the dwarves was said to be reincarnating as his own heir 6 times. Thus the name: Durin the Deathless. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. :) I hope I did not left out anything, and if you catch any mistakes, or just plain want to comment, please feel free! Kudos, comments make my day!


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short follow-up of Advice.
> 
> "The Hobbit had the Arkenstone."

The Hobbit had the Arkenstone. 

**The Hobbit. Had. The Arkenstone.**

**_The Hobbit._ **

**_The Arkenstone._ **

 

Thranduil was speechless. While Bard only knew of the jewel from dwarven and human legends, Thranduil knew how much more it was. He swallowed. This was a king’s ransom, indeed; one he had no intentions to keep for longer than necessary. 

(He had the Silmaril only for a day but what a day! Waging war with annoying dwarves against orcs and other filthy creatures; the argument with Tauriel; Legolas’ leaving; the death of Durin’s kins... He shuddered when he thought about keeping the Jewel for a year, for a decade – cursed nolda artifact would ruin the whole kingdom within a year.)

No, not keeping it. Thorin Oakenshield’s tomb would be deep enough and undisturbed enough for safekeeping the Arkenstone from all.

 

~end~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments make my day.


End file.
